The next hard time
First, this book documents, and proves in excruciating detail, that human action can, and does, affect our environment. You simply cannot read this book and question that.
Second, this may be the best example ever of the unintended consequences of government actions.
The details are painful. "Dust pneumonia" was the cause of many deaths, particularly the young and the old. Examination of dead cattle found stomachs so full of dirt particles that further movement, of anything, through the digestive tract was impossible. Dunes up to ten feet high were created by settling and blowing dirt. The details about Black Sunday, the 75th anniversary of which is next month, are difficult to believe.
In 1936, a report from the Great Plains Drought Area Committee was delivered to President Roosevelt. He had requested it some time earlier and the results "refuted a theory" Roosevelt had been mulling for some time. Three excerpts:
Mistaken public policies have been largely responsible for the situation . .
The basic cause of the present Great Plains situation is an attempt to impose upon the region a system of agriculture to which the Plains are not adapted.
The settlers lacked both the knowledge and incentive necessary to avoid these mistakes. . . The Federal homestead policy, which kept land allotments low and required that a portion of each should be plowed, is now seen to have caused immeasurable harm.
Today, we are once again faced with the government attempting to fix earlier mistakes made by government. I recommend that everyone read this book, perhaps especially our elected officials.